“The information is put clearly and intelligently and the book is a good one of its kind.”
+ N Y Evening Post p13 My 8 ’20 150w
J
JACKSON, ABRAHAM VALENTINE WILLIAMS. Early Persian poetry. il *$2.25 Macmillan 891.5
20–7452
“From the beginnings down to the time of Firdausi” (Sub-title) is the ground covered by this book, which aims “to give succinctly the main outlines of the several early periods, ... and to illustrate, by translations made from the original Persian, the characteristics of the various authors.... Many of the citations are only small fragments of verse from Persian poets so long dead that they have been evoked almost as shades from the far-distant past.... Some of the reliques of their works, however, are longer and have a fuller metrical tale to tell. The episode of Suhrab and Rustam, moreover, is a well-known classic in literature.” (Preface) Contents: Persian poetry of ancient days; The new awakening of Persian song after the Muhammadan conquest; the Tahirid and Saffarid periods; Rays from lost minor stars: earlier Samanid period; Rudagi, a herald of the dawn; Snatches of minstrel song; from the later Samanid period to the era of Mahmud of Ghaznah; Dakiki; The round table of Mahmud of Ghaznah: court poetry; Firdausi, and the great Persian epic; The Shah-namah; some selections translated; Epilogue. There are illustrations, a list of works of reference, a list of abbreviations, an alphabetical list of poets, a note on Persian pronunciation and an index.
+ Booklist 17:61 N ’20
“Much as we must admire Professor Jackson’s zeal and fervor ... yet one can not but feel a sense of disappointment at the amateurishness of some of his versions, with their often clumsy use of ‘did’ and their woodeny structure.” N. H. D.
+ − Boston Transcript p7 Jl 10 ’20 650w